Melbourne Storm thrash Brisbane Broncos, Ryan Papenhuyzen scores four tries
The Brisbane Broncos have been brought back down to earth with a thud as they were put to the sword by a rampant Melbourne Storm to tune of 40 points to six.
After taking a 6-0 lead, Brisbane wouldn’t trouble the scorers again, and the game was all but over after a stunning eleven-minute blitz from Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen.
The score went from 6-0 to the visitors to 24-6 to the hosts in the blink of an eye, with the Melbourne fullback scoring all four tries and converting them.
“I don’t do the work, all the boys create the linebreaks I just finish it off,” he said post-match.
“We probably played a bit too expansive to start with and the ball was a little bit slippery … when we play flat and up the middle, we’re pretty dangerous.
Brisbane, who won their first game of the season last weekend, failed to mount any semblance of a comeback after the interval, giving up another 16 unanswered points.
Josh Addo-Carr added insult to injury, booting a penalty goal in the closing seconds.
“They didn’t start well, they made some pretty schoolboy errors but the Storm just couldn’t capitalise,” Paul Gallen said Nine’s coverage.
“But it’s the same old story about the Brisbane Broncos: As soon as something goes against them, they have no resilience, no backbone and the opposition run shotgun all over them.”
Cameron Munster agreed with his spine partner’s sentiments regarding Melbourne’s slow start.
“We didn’t start the game really well,” he admitted.
“We were too eager. We spoke all week about trying to start well and I think we got too excited … we need to go back a bit and be a little bit calmer.”
It won’t get any easier for Brisbane in the next fortnight, who play South Sydney and Penrith in their next two fixtures.
